Dancing in Your Shoes
by Alice Under Suspicion
Summary: Lina is stuck working as a nurse in a huge chapel in Acre, until she ends up bandaging a wounded Altair who randomly pops up for aide before he leaves her in a bigger mess that before. No pairing so far. My summary sucks. I don't update often mind you.


The only sounds she has heard all day are moaning and screaming, but that of course was completely normal. The blood covering her was normal too. Everything was so normal. Another wounded patient, another arrogant doctor, and another basket of bloodied items (tunics, shoes, wraps) she was told to haul into the fire pit.

**Good cause Lina… it's for a good cause. **She thought over and over like a mantra. She found it annoying, of course but in the end of the day when she made her rounds to assure the patients were happy and she finished and when she got to sit down with an insomniac guard who loved to tell her stories, it was well worth it. All the stories of valor and duty always brightened her day, maybe they were just lies he used to impress a young woman. So he could see a smile of her tired face. But if they were she didn't mind the distraction and decided not to question it. She thought that she should let those unknown heroes live on in her mind.

Eventually the sick and wounded tire and she left finishing her shift late into the night. She exited onto the streets that were empty besides a couple of night owls. She kept away from alleys and stood only where the moon shone bright. She almost made it to her house when she saw large blood spatter along the ground, smeared hand and footprints showed the person was limping horribly. She ran into her house grabbing some medical wrapping and some herbs, not thinking fully about the danger of what could be the source of the blood.

She rushed down two alleys and saw the blood reach to a dark corner, the man groaning quietly to his own self. She started over to him before she heard "Halt!" He jumped up behind her holding the small, but lethal, blade to her throat. She dropped everything and started to look up but he yanked the blade closer, forcing down her head callously. "Look to the ground woman. And answer this…why are you following me?" She stared at the stone road as told to and began quietly. "I saw blood and wanted to help them if they were still alive." He looked to the bandages and herbs and thought her story checked out but was going to keep an eye on her. " You rushed into a dangerous area with nothing but the intent to help? That's very naive, girl. Close you eyes." He stipulated in a way that she just did it, not knowing if his purpose was killer.

He let go of her and walked back into the dark his damaged leg poking out into the moonlight. "If you truly have come to help then help now." He stated in the same cold, even tone. Lina could not see his eyes but only his two legs, one bent awkwardly and the cloth on it seeping with blood. She slowly gathered her items and sat next to his leg lifting it onto her lap, not daring to look to the face of the figure she could feel glaring holes into her. She determined that the calf was broken She started but putting on the herbs then aligning the bone, she then finished with attaching a split made of the wood from a hay-cart. He was remarkably silent.

The one thing she was confused with, that had invaded her mind and was now poking at her, was his robe seemed white like a scholar, but his mannerisms opposed that. She kept that in her mind the whole time perplexed, it crossed her mind once of the stories of Altaïr, which would explain the wound, but her mind didn't want to think it, helping an assassin heal to only see him (or not) go out and cause more damage. But it was the only possibility. "Finished?" The man questioned since she was crouched over his leg staring at it for a couple of moments longer than she had to. "I am." She looked away feeling his leg draw back as he used the wall to get his balance. Without her even registering it in her mind, he slips away. Leaving her to simply leave, her mind clouded. Back to her small abode where she simply changed into a lighter robe and laid on her soft pillows, her mind drifting in and out of conciseness.

The next day she had off of work and decided to go down to the docks and sit on the edge to dangling her feet off the ledge to relax. Knowing the master of the Knights Teutonic was going to be there she skipped out on a white robe and adorned herself in a blue and purple one, to avoid his mistrustful gaze and paranoid mind. She made it down no incident but when she arrived she, from afar, watched the Master Sibrand harass an old scholar. Who deafeningly accused the man of treason and of being an assassin. It ended in the man dying a hideous death.

She turned away not wanting herself to be next in line of Master Sibrand's wrath and went two docks away once guards deemed her harmless, a couple of them she recognized from the hospital, one asking her to take a look to a small stab wound, which she rubbed some herb on (she started getting pulled aside on the streets for help so she started carrying some around just in case) and rewrapped. Today the sun was bright and almost no clouds were in the skies making her rather pleased. The warmth on her skin was welcomed as she used it to distract herself from the 'clean up' of the incident.

Master Sibrand had left for his ship so all was quiet save for some casual chatting. She had heard the rumors of Altaïr making an appearance to slay Sibrand but hoped the guards were just amusing themselves, with some dark sense of humor. A kind that she hoped Master Sibrand would not hear, for he would have their heads immediately.

A shadow appeared next to her out of nowhere, one looking like a giant eagle... She froze before turning to look up, a scholar standing over her, the one from yesterday. Alone, just standing, when a guard looked over he sat down next to her, his robe swirling in the slight breeze as he sat. "Laugh. Now girl." He ordered and she let free the most realistic laugh she could muster, using the memory of all the good jokes she's heard to help. He turned his head to her, tilting it slightly to make it seem like they were talking like old friends until the guard marched on regrouping with the others.

"What are you doing here?" She asked cautiously her voice dropping and her face serious. "Smile. You're a awful actor." The same vindictive tone was used. She complied asking again with a painfully sweet grin on her face one that was difficult to keep from turning tart. "Why are you here!" He smirked a bit, clearly amused. "Same thing you are. Enjoying the day." He looked off still smirking a little, her eyes trailing to the scar on his lip. They both sat quiet looking off fearing the worst.

"Are you going to…" Her voice dropped so low the man could barely hear it but he could tell she was afraid of what she was going to say next. "kill him?" He didn't acknowledge her existence and just kept staring. Watching Sibrand's ship for what was almost thirty minutes before getting up slowly than jumping from boat to boat over to his. Before she could say a word Sibrand was down, screams came form everywhere as men dropped boxes and started running. Woman darted every which way and guards tried to order others but their voiced were drowned out. Everyone was in hysterics and scattered she only saw a glint off of the assassin's blade as he left.

Lina just stood up and looked around desperately, until some very livid guards ran up to her yelling, "She aided the assassin! Get her!" She had no where to run and simply had to go along with them and they grabbed her by the hair and yanked her around, throwing her to the ground in front of the Reagent Lord. "Here is the heretic you were told of." He was very rough with her, kicking her about and spitting in her face before yanking at her hair, some of it even came out. "Leave now, you useless bastards." He scolded, confusing Lina since they did successfully capture her.

He stared at her for a long time before calling a different guard back. "Stick her in one of the late Garnier de Naplouse's cells. Let her rot." Lina kept her head down as he kicked her across the face once again and laughed. Before being not so gently dragged away, cursing the assassin in her head. **Damn that man just leaving like that! I should have tried to leave while I could have! **She cursed it over and over in her head.

She was thrown into a dirty and blood covered cell where the sick and wounded wandered around moaning in pain. The kind of place that demoted guards were forced to be. She was used to the noise but now she couldn't do a thing about the hurt. She tried to attract a man over to she cound use the last of her herbs on him but he was in a delusion and clawed at her face.

She wiped her face clean of the little blood before curling up in the corner staring out the window the size of her head, the moonlight shone in and illuminated what she hoped to be just wet dirt on the floor, though the smell made that hard to belive. She fell asleep late in the night and prayed to no one that someone would just let her out, she didn't aid him really. **Yes, I did. I sat and kept him unnoticed until he killed Master Sibrand. **She gave up her denial. Before finally sleeping, screams still echoing off the walls. The picture of the dead walking faded as she slept for nearly a week straight. Only being allowed small rations of food. Not enough to keep even a rat alive.

She awoke to the guards beating up an ill man who had ran into him, blood spattered to just beside Lina and she cringed away. When the man stopped moving they shrugged and kicked him down what looked to be a huge drain. Until she realized it was an underground cell when there was a small scream of 'Food!'. She winced at the implication and counted the bricks on the ceiling to distract her from their sickening meal the thought of cannibalism making her ill, it didn't seem like anyone was even going to pay attention. **I wonder what he's doing right now? Probably laughing at how stupid I was to not run when I had the chance, of not getting up and walking away the second I saw him. **She hit the wall with her hand something chipping off and she bruied her face into her knees. Her eyes tearing up from the throbbing, burning pain in her knuckles.

Lina was awoken by a strange sound, a dragging sound. Then a small clanging sound, like metal on metal. She looked up and he was back, this time it was his shoulder and his finger that were hurt. He came into the cell and offered her a hand hesitantly. "If I get you out, will you bandage me?" She raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it you who got me stuck in here?" The man…_Altaïr _drew his hand back angrily. "Do you want to die here or not?" She sighed and calmed herself quickly. "I will." The two of them snuck out and he led her around the corners until they were on the streets not stopping until they made it to a thin, dark alley.

He took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her head. "They've seen your face." She nodded adjusting it a bit. "It's hard to see." He laughed mentally, remembering the first time he put one on. "You'll adjust." They made it to her house and she had him sit in an old chair as she went into her bedroom to fish out the supplies. When she came back out she noticed him smirking. She put the things on the table. "Why are you smiling?" She looked to where he was looking but saw nothing.

"Doesn't concern you." His tone was laced with a small chill, just enough to be unsettling, and she backed off. "Take your cloak off." He nodded undoing his short blade sheath and exposing his chest, he didn't mind keeping his cloak near, they both knew he could kill her in a whim if it came to it. A chest littered with scars, some long and jagged, others small and almost unnoticeable. She worked on the shoulder than was slashed open, it looking to have not only been cut but then forced open violently. "Where did you learn?" He watched her hands work. She smiled bitterly. "I have to fix up all the guards you hurt." He laughed a little. "I make your job horrible, don't I?" He mused.

"You have no idea, _assassin_." She applied a bit more force than needed to prove her point, him of course seemingly not even noticing it. "Tread carefully, _girl_." He warned. "You must now hide yourself from public eye." She had forgotten to think ahead and now cursed herself for it. **I guess I could always be like a vigilantee… Not like I could do much else, I don't want to sit here all day. They'd look for me. Would the men allow me to help? I don't think. But who says they'll know I'm a woman? I just need practice. A lot of practice, this won't be fun. I should probably think this out more but, ah what the hell let's try. **"I have an idea. Don't worry."

"I wouldn't." It seemed more like out of carelessness than of confidence in her ability. How sweet. "So what are you planning to do anyways?" She paused a bit, seeing no reason she would need to hide it from him. "I'll be a vigilantee." There was a small silence before he laughed out loud rather loudly. "I'd like to see that, little girl! But be careful you might stain that pretty robe of yours!" She furrowed her brow. "You're wrong. So laugh all you want while you still can, because I will be able to do it." She had just finished his finger and he left, out the window, still chuckling to himself.

She was more angred with his laughing than she let on so she punched one of her pillows, she was confident she could become one. And seeing as she talked with many guards she has been told when the regiments are the most scarce so she knows when she can practice with the least guards around to spot her. **Let's hope they told the truth.** That was probably one of the only advantages that her job held. She decided to start with her running. So if she messed up on the timing and guards found her she'd be able to evade them at least.

She looked through her clothes and picked up some light items, nothing to hot, and when the moon was high in the sky wrapped the cloth from Altaïr around her head like he did. Ot took a few minutes to fix right but when she had it she exited the back and into an alley, she trekked thruogh many before she came to a long and narrow one, only big enough to turn in.

She started to simply dash as fast as she could back and forth, ignoring the ache amd the sweat, only stopping when she felt like her feet were just about ready to bleed, and her lungs were ready to explode. She then returned home, thankful that her first night ran smoothly and hoped for many more nights to come that would turn out like this. **But this can't last for so long. It's weird the assassin has been gone so long. Usually he's annoyed me by now.**

It was like that for the most part. She had some close calls over time and she had to cut training early on many occasions, but she eventually got her speed into a zone she was happy with and had gotten her arm strength pretty high, but it would only be average in a man's perspective.

One of the many things the guards told her was how the assassin would use roofs to his advantage during chases. Lina was just stupid enough to try this. So here she stood ontop of crumbling stone, wondering how she got here in the fisrt place. The damn assassin had not showed up since the breakout and she was happy for that but did somewhat wish he was here to help her. He would know more about how to do this than she would.

She paced back and forth before gathering the guts to try the cross-building jump, she decided there was no way she could do it different she just had to do it. She almost felt sick backing up before she ran forwards taking a huge leap. She chose two close buildings but she ended up slamming into the wall, her hold on a crevice lasted a few seconds before she fell seven feet landing on her back, while simultaniously hitting the back of her head on a haystack. "You're supposed to land _in_ the haystack, _girl_." A voice droned hinting at it's amusment. She held her head (**Am I bleeding?**) and turned to find the assassin. "Were you right there the whole time?!" He nodded slightly. "Then why didn't you help me!" She almost yelled in her annoyance. "One does not learn when held by hand. I learned the same, through blood and pain." **You probably had someone there to help you up.** She got up and fixed the cloth that had fallen off her head.

She huffed a bit and turned back to the wall of the first building unsure whether to try again. "The wall won't come to you girl you have to walk to it." She didn't even aknowledge him. Not until a few moments later. "_Lina Alya Raïs to you, assassin_." She ran to the wall grabbing a brick that was jutting out and climbed up the surface. "_Altaïr Ibn La Ahad, to you, girl_." This time when she fell, she actually managed to fall in the haystack. So she can now say haystacks are not as soft as Altaïr made it seem, seeimg as how they were his landing of choice.


End file.
